1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical lens adjusting device to be mounted on cameras or mobile telephones with a camera, etc. and an adjusting method thereof, and more specifically, to an optical lens adjusting device and an optical lens adjusting method which enables automatic adjustment in cameras.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior-art technical literatures related to the invention include, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-66298 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). The invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 relates to an adjusting device of an optical axis of a photographing lens used for digital cameras, which enables the amount of eccentricity of the lens to be adjusted.
In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, a stationary lens L1 and an adjusting lens L2 is provided in a lens barrel, and when an X-Y micro-motion stage 47 is driven, a collect chuck 57 that holds the adjusting lens L2 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis. The optical axis of the adjusting lens L2 can be made coincide with the optical axis of the stationary lens L1.
However, the lens optical-axis adjusting device has a problem in that since the device is apt to be a complicated and large-scale device, the cost increases easily.
Further, generally, since cameras or mobile telephones with a camera have high convenience, they are readily put in a high temperature environment or a low temperature environment at all times. Also, since the lens barrel or the collect chuck 57 constituting the camera expands or contracts in such an environment, problems such as deviation of the optical axis of the lens or tilt of the lens per se easily occurs. Accordingly, conventionally, cameras or mobile telephones are shipped in state where the lens is fixed with adhesive, etc. so as not to move after the positional adjustment thereof. However, it is desirable to allow positional adjustment of the lens even after the shipment of cameras, etc.
Meanwhile, since the optical lens adjusting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a device in which adjustment of the optical axis is performed during assembling of the lens, adjustment of the optical axis in cameras after shipment should be performed by request for repair services.
Further, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, the optical axis alignment is a task that is performed in a case where the optical axis of the adjusting lens L2 in the lens barrel deviates (deviation of the optical axis) and in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the stationary lens L1 in a state parallel to the optical axis of the stationary lens L1. Accordingly, in such a construction, it is not possible to perform the adjustment (inclination adjustment of the optical axis) in a case where the adjusting lens L2 is inclined within the lens barrel per se, and thereby the optical axis of the adjusting lens L2 is inclined with respect to the optical axis of the stationary lens L1.
Moreover, in a case where deviation occurs in the positional relationship between the stationary lens L1 and the adjusting lens L2 in the lens barrel, users should request a manufacturer to repair or adjust his/her camera or have no other means of buying new cameras again because the camera per se cannot be adjusted.
Furthermore, the above-described adjustment is currently performed manually except for the optical axis alignment.